Most people do not realize the most accurate world map is a globe. It is actually common sense as to why this is. The earth is round, not flat, so flat maps are good but not truly, completely accurate when studying the earth. With globes, all the countries are shown in true size in comparison to each other. You can also see how far apart countries and continents are and even what time it is in other countries.
Before man explored outer space it was impossible to tell what shape the world really was. Most people thought it to be flat instead of being globe shaped, but it was a mystery as to why some things happened and moved the way they did. For example, if the world was flat, why did the sun rise in the east and set in the west everyday, and why did the stars move in a circular pattern every night.
The reason it was thought the world was flat and not a globe was because, when on earth, the land and water seemed flat from a human perspective. It was also thought that if you went all the way to the end of the earth, you would fall off or be swallowed up by some kind of monster. Greek storytellers used to say that the earth was a flat disc surrounded by the "Ocean River".
Before people like Christopher Columbus, cartographers in Europe were making earth globes. In 1450, a German cartographer , Martin Behaim made the oldest earth globe that still exists today. The Dutch, some years later, would become the best at making maps and globes. When looking at these globes, many nobles believed that the earth was the center of the universe.
The myth about the earth being the center of the universe was dispelled when Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, and German astronomer Johannes Kepler showed that the planet was actually revolving around the sun. There were many people that would threaten Galileo and ban Copernicus's books because they did not want to believe what the men were teaching was true.
The earth globe is used in almost every school to help teach geography and political science. It is the best way to see how individual countries are situated in relation to the rest of the world. With flat maps some continents do not appear as they really are. The earth globe is the most accurate median to use when learning about countries, continents and the oceans relationship to each other.
Posted Dec. 19, 2007 by Author LaZinnia Manley
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